Southeast Cross Country Shootout

January 20, 2008  - Maplesville, Alabama

I'm not a big fan of riding in cold weather and if there's one thing this race offered a lot of...it was cold weather!  I suppose we were a little lucky because it actually snowed on the Saturday races but cleared up a lot by Sunday.  In fact, the course was very good by race time and a lot of fun to ride on.  This race always seems to have a good pro rider turnout and this year was no exception.  GNCC riders Barry Hawk, Jason Raines, Thad Duvall, Scott Watkins, Garrett Edmisten and Dustin Gibson were among those in attendance.  That's a fast group of riders, for sure!

I was extremely lucky on the start when my bike fired up immediately.  I headed into the first turn and was among the top three or four as we jockeyed for positions in the first few turns.  After having not raced in so long, I just wanted to focus on doing my own thing and riding smart.  With so many fast, aggressive riders, however, that's not always easy to remember!

In the end, Thad Duvall put in a great ride up front and kept a gap on all of us just about the entire race.  I finished 4th with Garret Edmisten and  Barry Hawk both edging me out by a few seconds.  It was really close at the end but I was pretty happy just to be in contact with those guys when the checkered flag came out.  They both had excellent 2007 seasons and I had fun trying to ride & learn from them.   Jason Raines finished in 5th.

I'm definitely glad I decided to make the trip to this race.  It was a lot of fun and has me looking forward to getting back to racing soon.